Jewelry system

ABSTRACT

A jewelry system comprises at least one bracelet having two ends and a length and at least one necklace having two ends and a length approximately twice as long as the length of the bracelet, each of the ends of each bracelet and each necklace having a magnetic clasp element forming a portion of a flat surface of the hemispherically shaped housing such that any two clasp elements can be magnetically attached to each other to form a decorative spherically-shaped clasp that does not immediately appear to be a clasp, but rather an integral decorative element of the jewelry piece.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/435,540 filed Jan. 24, 2011

BACKGROUND

Coordinated sets of individual jewelry items, such as coordinated combinations of a necklace and bracelet, are ancient and well-known. However, the prior art in the jewelry field has not provided a method for ready combination of a selection of individual elements in a set of jewelry such that the resulting combination appears to be a single uniform piece and not an obvious combination of two or more elements, particularly as is evident when standard clasps are used to combine the elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. 1 is a photograph of a necklace and a bracelet according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a close-up photograph of a clasp element of the bracelet shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a photograph of the necklace and bracelet shown in FIG. 1 wherein the clasp elements have been joined to form the necklace and bracelet into a closed configuration; and

FIG. 4 is a photograph of a combination necklace formed by joining together the bracelet and necklace shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

A jewelry system according to the invention, referred to generally at 10 in FIG. 1, comprises a coordinated set of wearable jewelry pieces including at least one bracelet 12 and at least one necklace 14. The bracelet 12 includes a string section 16 having magnetic clasps 18 at each of its two ends. Similarly, the necklace 14 includes a string section 20 having magnetic clasp elements 22 at each of its two ends. The bracelet 12 has a length at least long enough to be appropriate for wearing around a wrist as a bracelet. The necklace 14 is approximately twice as long as the bracelet 12 and has a length at least long enough to be appropriate for wearing around a neck as a necklace. Each clasp element 18, 22 includes a magnet 24 secured in a decorative, hemispherically shaped housing 26 (see FIG. 2) and is identical to all the clasp elements on the ends of both the bracelet 12 and necklace 14. Thus, the clasp element 18 on one end of the bracelet 12 is an identical match for the clasp element 18 on the other end of the bracelet, and is also an identical match for the clasp elements 22 on each end of the necklace 14. The magnet 24 is positioned on and forms a portion of the flat surface of the hemispherically shaped housing 26 such that any two clasp elements 18, 22 can be magnetically attached to each other to form a decorative spherically-shaped clasp that does not immediately appear to be a clasp, but rather an integral decorative element of the jewelry piece. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the clasp elements 18 on each end of the string section 16 of the bracelet 12 may be joined together to form the bracelet 12 and the clasp elements 22 on each end of the string section 20 of the necklace 14 may be joined together to form the necklace 14.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the clasp elements 18 of the bracelet 12 may be joined to the clasp elements 22 of the necklace 14 and, since the clasp elements 18, 22 form matching pairs, when they are joined together they form a spherically-shaped decorative element which complements rather than interrupts the presentation. The resulting combination forms a necklace 28 which is approximately one and a half times as long as the necklace 14 alone. Similarly, a second bracelet (not shown) may be interposed between the first bracelet 12 and the necklace 14 to form a necklace which is approximately twice as long as the necklace 14 alone.

In one example of a jewelry set according to the invention, a jewelry set consisting of one necklace and two bracelets may form the following combinations:

-   -   a. One necklace and two bracelets;     -   b. One combination necklace of 1½ times the length of a necklace         alone and one bracelet; or     -   c. One combination double length necklace.

The ability to readily combine and instantly reconfigure one or more bracelets with one or more necklaces into a coordinated attractive jewelry item in which the clasps appear to be an integral decorative element provides a measure of flexibility heretofore unknown in the jewelry arts. 

1. A jewelry system comprising: at least one bracelet having two ends and a length, at least one necklace having two ends and a length approximately twice as long as the length of the bracelet, and a magnetic clasp element on each of the ends of said bracelet and said necklace, each clasp element selectively and detachably attachable to any one of the other clasp elements to form a decorative spherically-shaped clasp. 